The Zombies at the Codfish Hollow Barn -- July 2.
Saturday, July 2, 8 p.m.
Codfish Hollow Barn, 5013 288th Avenue, Maquoketa IA
Currently traveling the country in their “Life Is a Merry-Go-Round” tour held in celebration of the band's recent induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the British psychedelic-pop icons of The Zombies play a special July 2 concert at Maquoketa's Codfish Hollow Barn, the group renowned for such top-10 Billboard smashes as “She's Not There,” “Tell Her No,” and the chart-topping “Time of the Season.”
After receiving their fourth nomination in five years, the support for the Zombies’ Hall of Fame induction among the public and their peers was undeniable, as the band placed fourth in the public online poll with over 330,000 votes, and even fellow nominee John Prine, in a Billboard interview, called for their induction before his own. Consequently, at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center on March 29 of 2019, the Zombies joined Stevie Nicks, Radiohead, The Cure, Def Leppard, Janet Jackson, and Roxy Music as that year's Class of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Fittingly, the induction ceremony took place exactly 50 years to the day after the Zombies’ classic “Time of the Season” first topped the charts in America.
Having originated in 1961, the Zombies spent the pandemic's touring hiatus in the studio recording the follow-up to their 2015 Billboard-charting album Still Got That Hunger. The title for their 2022 “Life Is a Merry-Go-Round” tour is a lyric from one of the album's new songs, but also, for the band, a fitting description of the dizzying effect the past two years have had on the world. The Zombies exclusively debuted several of the recording's new songs in their only live concert of 2021, broadcast around the world in September from the legendary Abbey Road Studio 2 in London. Led by founding members Colin Blunstone (vocalist) and Rod Argent (keyboardist), the Zombies’ 21st-century lineup features Steve Rodford on drums, Tom Toomey on guitar, and the newest member Søren Koch, who joined the band following the untimely passing of the group's beloved bassist Jim Rodford in early 2018.
The second U.K. band following the Beatles to score a number-one hit in America, the Zombies infiltrated the airwaves with the sophisticated melodies, breathy vocals, choral back-up harmonies, and jazzy keyboard riffs of their 1960’s hit singles “She’s Not There” and “Tell Her No.” Ironically, the group initially broke-up just prior to achieving their greatest success – the worldwide chart-topping single “Time of the Season” from their swan-song offering Odessey & Oracle, which ranked among Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. To this day, generations of new bands have cited The Zombies’ work as pop touchstones, and the rockers continue to be embraced by new generations of fans. Described by Rolling Stone as “absolutely triumphant," the band's live performances take fans on a journey through time, from their early hits to post-Zombies solo favorites to brand-new material from their forthcoming album.
The Zombies play their Maquoketa engagement on July 2, admission to the 9 p.m. concert is $60-65, and more information and tickets are available by visiting CodfishHollowBarnstormers.com.
